The Dorking Fowl

The Dorking is one of the most ancient of all domesticated races of poultry. It was brought to Great Britain by the Romans with Julius Caesar, but was known and described by the Roman writer Columella long before it became a poplar breed in England. He spoke of the hens as being ‘square framed, large and broad breasted, with big heads and small upright combs,’ adding ‘the purest breeds are five clawed.’

The Dorking was most certainly one of the first fowls brought to the Americas by our ancestors. It is primarily a dual purpose fowl used for both meat and egg production. The hens by nature are wonderful mothers and the cocks great protectors of their flock. The APA admitted the Silver Gray, Colored and White varieties into the American Standard of Perfection in 1874. Although the Red Dorking is the most ancient of the color varieties it was not admitted into the Standard until 1995. 1998 saw the admission of both the RC Cuckoo and the SC Cuckoo into The Standard of Perfection. Currently the Dorking Club is working toward admission of several other old color varieties.

General Characteristics

Male: Carriage: Quiet and stately, with breast well forward.

Type: Body massive, long and deep, rectangular in shape when viewed sideways, and tightly feathered. Back broad and moderately long with full saddle inclined downward to the tail. Breast deep and well rounded with a long keel bone. Wings large and well tucked up. Tail full and sweeping carried well out with abundant side hangers and broad well-curved sickles.

Head: Large and broad. Beak stout, well proportioned and slightly curved. Eyes full. Comb single or rose. The single comb is upright, moderately large, broad at the base, evenly serrated, free from side sprigs. The rose is moderately broad and square fronted, narrowing behind to a distinct and slightly upturned leader, the top covered with small points of even height. Face smooth. Earlobes moderately developed and hanging about one third the depth of the waddle, which are large and long.

Neck: Rather short, covered with abundant hackle feathers falling well over the back, making it appear extremely broad at the base, and tapering rapidly toward the head.

Legs and Feet: Legs short and strong. Thighs large and well developed but almost hidden by the body feathering. Shanks short, moderately stout and round, free from feathers, the spurs set on the inner side pointing inwards. Toes, five, large round and hard, the front toes (three) long and straight and well spread, the hind toe and the extra toe well formed and separated; the extra toe placed above and pointing upwards.

Female: The general characteristics are similar to those of the male, allowing for the natural sexual differences, except that the tail is carried rather closely. The single comb falls over one side of the face.

Standard Color Varieties:

Colored Dorkings:

Males: Head: Plumage, very light gray.

Neck: Light straw color, with a wide, black stripe extending down middle of each feather and terminating in a point near its lower extremity. Front, black.

Back and Saddle: Back, black, laced around end with straw. Cape, black. Saddle, straw with a wide black stripe extending down middle each feather.

Tail: Main tail, black. Sickles, greenish black. Coverts, lustrous black.

Wings: Front, black. Bows, light straw. Coverts, lustrous greenish black, forming a wide bar across wing.

Breast: Lustrous black.

Body and Fluff: Black.

Females: Head: Plumage, black.

Neck: Black with a narrow edging of straw color. Shafts, straw color. Front, dark salmon.

Back: Lustrous black; shafting of feathers, straw color.

Tail: Main tail, dark brown penciled with gray on surface, and black on inside.

Wings: Fronts, Bows and Coverts, black, a slight admixture of dark, brownish gray in center of feather; shafts, straw. Primaries, slate brown. Secondaries, upper webs, black; lower webs, black with an admixture of dark gray.

Breast: Dark salmon, feathers marked on lower edges with black; shafting of feathers, light bay.

Body and Fluff: Body, black, slightly mixed with gray. Fluff, dull black edged with gray.

Cuckoo Dorkings:

Male and Female:

Comb: Single or Rose

Plumage: Feathers on all sections crossed by irregular light and dark bars that are short of positive black and white, each feather tipped with a dark bar. The overall appearance is slate. Male may be one or two shades lighter than the female.

Under Color: Slate

Notes: Light bars should be free of a yellowish tinge. The dark bars should be free of a brownish tinge. Ideally the sexes should match but the females exhibit broader barring and have an overall darker appearance. Some specimens may continue the barring into the fluff. This acceptable if the overall appearance does not appear washed-out. Shafting is not a defect in any Dorking. When present in Cuckoos it should be restricted to the shaft and not extend into the near by web.

Silver Gray Dorkings:

Males: Head: Plumage, silvery white.

Neck: Hackle, pure silver white. Front, black.

Back and Saddle: Silvery white. Cape, black.

Tail: Main tail, black. Sickles and Coverts, greenish black. Smaller Coverts next to saddle, greenish black edged with silvery white

Wings: Fronts and Bows, silvery white. Coverts, lustrous greenish black, forming a wide bar across the wing.

Breast: Lustrous black.

Body and Fluff: Black.

Females: Head: Plumage, silvery white.

Neck: Silvery white, with a narrow black stripe, slightly stippled with ash gray extending down middle of each feather, tapering to point near its extremity. Front, reddish salmon.

Back: Gray, finely stippled with silvery white, resulting in an ashy gray appearance.

Tail: Main tail, dull black, stippled with gray on surface; unexposed portion of feathers, dark slate.

Wings: Front, Bows and Coverts, gray, finely stippled with silvery white, resulting in an ashy gray appearance.

Breast: Reddish salmon, shading to ashy gray at sides.

Body and Fluff: Body, gray, finely stippled with ashy gray, free from dark marks across feathers; under part of body, gray.

White Dorkings:

Male and Female: Web, Fluff and Shafts of all feathers, in all sections, white.

Red Dorkings:

Male: Head: Bright glossy red.

Neck: Hackle, bright glossy red, free from dark striping. Front, black.

Back and Saddle: Bright glossy red. Cape, black.

Tail: Main tail, black with greenish sheen; Shafts, black. Sickle and Coverts, greenish black. Smaller Coverts next to saddle, greenish black, edged with glossy red.

Wings: Fronts and Bows, glossy red. Coverts, bluish black forming a wide distinct bar across wing. Primaries and Secondaries, upper webs, black; lower webs, bay; quills, black.

Breast: Lustrous black.

Body and Fluff: Black.

Females: Head: Bright gold.

Neck: Bright gold, heavily striped with black. Shafts, black. Front, rich salmon.

Back: Dull black, striped with golden brown, each feather having a golden or bright yellow shaft.

Tail: Main tail, dull black stippled with golden brown. Shafts, black.

Wings: Front, Bows and Coverts, same as back. Primaries and Secondaries, upper webs dull black; lower webs, dull black, stippled with brown.

Breast: Rich salmon, shading to brown and blending with body color at sides.

Body and Fluff: Ashy brown.

Nonstandard Color Varieties:

Prior to this century many other color varieties existed. The Dorking Club is working hard to save the endangered varieties and attempting to recreate the extinct varieties. Colors among these categories are: Black, Brown Red, Crele, Dark Birchen Gray, Light Gray, Spangled, Speckled and Wheaten.

  Meet Your Officers

  Greetings from Your President:  

I guess I’ll never know how many votes I got and by what percentage I won by but, I’m ready for my run against Clinton. I am truly honored to represent the Club membership as President and I hope that your Club officers will be able to help your needs in any way possible. Jeannine Peters, along with Craig Russsel have done a great job in making this breed come alive. I know that it will not be long before Dorkings take their place among the best at any of the shows. Dorkings are truly a distinguished breed of fowl that deserve nothing but the best in our endeavors to bring it back from the doldrums.

I will give you just a brief history of myself and why I wanted to raise Dorkings. Debbie (my wife) and I live in rural Jacksonville, Illinois and together we run Calico Collectables (a craft business that sells appliquéd wall quilts and tea towels). In my spare time I love raising rare breeds of birds. I have always loved the Dorking foremost though. Ever since I saw that stately picture of a Silver Gray in the poultry section of "The World Book Encyclopedia" I would say to myself ‘I have to have some of those birds.’ Well, that was in fifth grade some time in the early seventies. They just were not to be found in the Murray McMurry catalog, however someone put me in contact with Thane Earle and I got my first Dorking from him in the early eighties. I had Reds, Whites and Silver Grays and did not realize what I had until I lost them all from a disease outbreak. I was devastated to say the least, because in the mean time Thane had sold out. So it was back to the drawing board. My next start was with some Silver Grays from Duane Urch and I added a couple of females from Craig Russell. I have since added Reds from Jeannine Peters and hopefully we can get some good hatches this year. I also got some bantam Silver Grays from Duane this spring and I will be working on getting good type back into them. I also raise Lafleche, WF Black Spanish, Mottled Houdans, Dark Brahmas and White Muscovy ducks and several bantam breeds. Usually I only get to the Illinois State Fair to show, but hopefully this year I will be able to show off some of my fruits at a few more places.

I look forward to leading this Club with the help of all of you and I know I will learn a lot more from all of you than you will ever learn from me. I feel that some of the goals I would like to see us strive for are: to increased Club membership, shore up size and type of our Dorkings, to get them into as many hands as possible, to promote them by exhibiting them in as many shows as we can and to work on developing some of the old color varieties that have been lost over the years. That’s enough to start with and I am sure that we are well on our way to accomplishing those goals. But, it takes more than just the four of us, it takes all of you and together the fruits of our labor will be self evident in the years to come. Happy Hatching and I look forward to talking to you over the phone and seeing you at the shows.

Phil Bartz

  How Did I Get into Dorkings?  

By accident of course, just like I got into everything else. Someone once asked me why I didn't raise Jersey Giants. Since I had no idea what they were, I decided that I must have some. So I sent to a hatchery, and the order came with five free chicks of another breed and that's how I got into Faverolles.

My place is called Buttercup Farm, and since I can't seem to raise Buttercup flowers, the only alternative was Buttercup chickens. As I got older, the Jersey Giants got heavier and heavier, so I thought perhaps a lighter breed. Leghorns, Hamburgs maybe? Oh no -- Javas. About three pounds lighter and a lot more of a challenge.

Then I thought that my husband should have his own breed. So he looked through the ‘Standard’ and chose Dorkings. ‘Don's Dorks’ was proudly embroidered on the shop coat embellished with breed patches and APA medals that he wore to shows. People often mistook him for a judge, and although he really didn't know a chicken from a kangaroo, he answered all questions, happily dispensing a mountain of misinformation -- Don never knew a stranger. He died a few months after the chicks arrived, but he really enjoyed them, and so, of course they are very precious to me.

Phyllis Phelps

The Past, Present and Future  

I tend to think of the Dorking Club as an extended family and I have talked to many of you at shows and over the phone. Happily we are a growing organization and Jeannine thinks it’s time I should introduce myself to those of you who haven’t met me as more than a name on an article.

My grandfathers share the blame for promoting an early interest in poultry that has never let up. One of them also promoted an interest in history. Poultry and history go hand in hand when it comes to the Dorkings. I developed an interest in Dorkings when I first saw them many years ago at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. Subsequently my attempts to find out more about the breed hooked me on Dorkings and led to an interest in general poultry history as well.

I actually started with Dorkings nearly thirty years ago. Since that time I’ve collected books and articles on the breed and I made it a point to talk with the old timers who had kept the Dorkings going. I spent the early seventies in the service and while stationed in Europe I went to England (at least in part) to do research on the breed and to visit with the British Dorking breeders.

When I returned home I found out Chandler Macky was trying to organize a new Dorking Club, along with Roger Voter, Bruce Lentz, Gene Patterson, John Allen, and many others, I became involved in an effort to find and save the dwindling number of Dorking flocks. Chan, Roger, Bruce and some others are gone now, but I think they would be proud of what the club they founded has done. I look forward to serving you and the Club and as your historian I have begun a long time dream, writing a book about the Dorking Fowl.

Craig T. Russell

A Note from Your Secretary  

As a child, I loved animals. My very first pet was a banty chick my grandpa gave me. ‘Penny’ and I were inseparable. As the years passed, my parents moved to town and I had more typical pets... but I never forgot ‘Penny.’

When my husband and I moved to a farm, the first thing I wanted was chickens. What started as just a few hens in the backyard, has become a large flock complete with breeding pens, incubators, hatcheries, brooders, etc. My Rhode Island Reds and Rocks have become Dorkings and Sussex. And, my interest in old breeds and varities continues to grow----I’m still looking for Scots Dumpies and Light Sussex.

I’ve been working with The Dorking Club for many years now. In 1995 we succeeded in getting the Reds accepted into The Standard of Perfection which I feel sparked a renewed interest in this fine old breed. I would like to see more of the old varieties promoted with the goal of getting them into The Standard. Many folks don’t have time -- or the room -- for a variety that can’t win shows. By having them in The Standard, we all win -- especially the breed -- if we can attract a few more serious breeders. But first we must locate the old varieties and their breeders. An updated and accurate breeders directory is of utmost importance. Tell us what varieties you have (even if you are not in a position to sell stock or eggs). If you know someone with Dorkings that is not a Club member encourage them to join with us in saving this magnificent old breed.

This is your Club, and it is my goal is to assist you with your goals and needs. I look forward to hearing from you and working with you in assuring the future of The Dorking Fowl.

Jeannine M. Peters